Customer Reviews

Responsa from the Holocaust

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"Rabbi, does Jewish law obligate me to eradicate the tatoo identification numbers the Nazis gave me?"

A book full of questions from people we would today call "dead men walking". Questions prompted by the occupation of their home town by murderous, soulless ghouls. Questions from a people persecuted since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Questions from a people who lived, and died, by the word of God in the Torah and Talmud no matter what the circumstances.

Rabbi Oshry, who lived through the Nazi occupation of the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania, kept notes on the heart-wrenching legal questions his flock asked him on discarded cement bags. He hid the bags during the occupation and recovered them after the liberation. This book is based on those notes.

Rabbi Oshry thouroughly researched each question under trying circumstances; the Nazis burned most of the books and were killing anyone whom they caught practicing Judaism.

To begin to understand the times and the horrors of the Kovno ghetto, read this book.

I concur completely with the review written by Martin Blumenthal.
I will only add that this work is a tremendously moving document.
The situations out of which these questions came were often incredibly painful and difficult.
The courage in faith of those who asked , who kept faith in such difficult circumstances is an example to us all.
The holy work of Rabbi Oshry Z"ts"l is done in true Yirat Shemayim fear of the Lord and out of love and consideration for the suffering people of Israel.

I also concur with the comments of the previous reviewers, but would add one note of caution. This is Oshry's translation from Hebrew to English of his original five-volume compilation of the responsa he gave in the Kovno Ghetto. In the English version, nearly all the halakhic argumentation is removed and the questions and answers are much simplified. It's still a wonderful, moving read, but if you want to follow Oshry's legal reasoning, you'll need to read the original in Hebrew.

The book really opens your eyes as to the concerns amongst many during the dark days of the Shoah. R' Oshry illustrates the spiritual faith and the kavanah in those dark days in these responsa. An informative, and highly emotional read.